*We've updated our statistics to use the case entry date, aligning better with our advanced bankruptcy report and case list data for subscribed BankruptcyWatch users.

Our Analysis of Week 26 Bankruptcy Filing Statistics by Chapter (Updated June 29, 2026)

Week 26 showed continued year-over-year growth, with consumer bankruptcies rising about 3% to 12,114 filings and business filings increasing roughly 10% to 140 cases compared with the same week last year.

Chapter 7 filings, a lifeline for many struggling households, were up 3.22% year-over-year (from 7,651 in 2025 to 7,897 in 2026). Chapter 13 filings, allowing individuals to restructure their debt, were up 1.88% year-over-year (from 4,139 in 2025 to 4,217 in 2026). Chapter 11 filings, often used by businesses facing insolvency, were up 9.92% year-over-year (from 121 in 2025 to 133 in 2026).

Bankruptcy and Consumer Debt News We're Reading This Week

Want to know about the news articles that caught our eye this week? Start here.

• Leading Companies Filing for Bankruptcy 2026
• Map Shows Where Bankruptcies are Soaring
• Household Debt Edges up to New High, but Credit Card Balances Dip
• Federal Housing Aid Ends as Foreclosure Risk Continues

AI Analysis of 2026 Week 26 Bankruptcy Filing Data

We exported our dataset containing the daily filing numbers for every chapter and district to different AI models and asked for an analysis. Below are the exact results for each model.

Claude Opus 4.7 Analysis of Week 26 Bankruptcy Filings

1. Overview of this week's National filings. For the week of June 29, the country recorded 12,254 total bankruptcy filings, up sharply from the prior week's 10,577 and marking the calendar-year midpoint on a strong footing. Chapter 7 liquidations made up 7,897 filings during week 26, or roughly 64.4% of the national total, while Chapter 13 wage-earner reorganizations contributed 4,217 filings, about 34.4%. Chapter 11 business reorganizations added 133 filings and Chapter 12 farm filings totaled 7, together accounting for about 1.1% of week 26 activity. Week-over-week, total filings surged 15.9% from week 25's 10,577, comfortably above the 2026 year-to-date weekly average of 11,930. Year-over-year, week 26 of 2026 is up a modest 2.8% compared with the same week in 2025, which posted 11,917 filings.
2. An interesting fact about this week's filings. The most striking detail about the week of June 29 is that its 12,254 filings still fall short of week 26 of 2024 (12,439 filings), making 2024 the only prior year where this particular week outperformed 2026 — a rare reversal in an otherwise consistently upward-trending dataset. Chapter 13 in the Northern District of Illinois hit an eye-catching 206 filings during week 26, the highest single-district Chapter 13 reading seen for that district in all of 2026. Chapter 11 continued its normalized pattern with 133 filings, led by the Southern District of Texas at 20 and the Eastern District of New York at 14 — well below the record 407 spike seen in week 23. Chapter 12 farm filings recovered slightly to 7 during week 26 (up from just 2 the prior week), spread evenly across seven different districts with one filing each in Eastern Arkansas, Eastern California, Southern Illinois, Kansas, Eastern Kentucky, New Jersey, and South Dakota. Together, the 15.9% week-over-week rebound essentially recouped the prior two weeks' softness in a single week.
3. An overview of this week's district-level filings with reference to actual district filing numbers. Combining all four chapters during the week of June 29, the Central District of California led the country with 672 filings, followed by the Middle District of Florida at 646, the Northern District of Illinois at 452, and the Northern District of Georgia at 394. The Southern District of Florida recorded 372 total filings for week 26, the Eastern District of Michigan 371, Maryland 315, the Northern District of Ohio 296, the Eastern District of New York 280, and New Jersey 279. Looking at Chapter 7 alone, the Central District of California posted 553, the Middle District of Florida 502, the Eastern District of Michigan 265, the Northern District of Ohio 258, the Northern District of Georgia 248, the Northern District of Illinois 241, the Eastern District of California 222, the Southern District of Florida 211, Arizona 206, and Maryland 198. On the Chapter 13 side, the Northern District of Illinois led with 206, followed by the Southern District of Florida at 156, the Northern District of Georgia at 142, the Northern District of Alabama at 139, the Middle District of Florida at 136, the Western District of Tennessee at 124, Maryland at 117, the Western District of Louisiana at 115, the Middle District of Alabama at 110, and the Central District of California at 107. The top ten districts during week 26 together produced about 4,077 filings, accounting for roughly 33.3% of the 12,254-filing national total.
4. Geographic (district) disparities in filings. The disparity between busy and quiet districts during week 26 remained enormous: while the Central District of California posted 672 total filings, the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam each recorded zero, with the Virgin Islands at just 1. Other very low-volume districts during the week of June 29 included the District of Columbia at 8, Wyoming at 9, Vermont and the Northern District of West Virginia at 11 each, Alaska at 12, the Southern District of West Virginia at 13, and Hawaii at 15. The southeastern Sun Belt and major metro districts of California, Illinois, Michigan, and Ohio dominated the leaderboard for week 26, with Maryland (315), the Eastern District of New York (280), and New Jersey (279) also breaking into the national top ten. The Central District of California alone (672 filings) produced more activity during week 26 than the bottom 30 districts combined. This pattern of concentration is structural, reflecting population, regional economic stress, and entrenched filing behaviors rather than any one-week anomaly.
5. Current year focus. Through the first 26 weeks of 2026 — with week 26 marking the calendar-year midpoint — the country has logged 310,180 total filings, an average of 11,930 per week and comfortably ahead of every prior year in the dataset at the same point. The year began softer at 9,012 in week 1 but has trended firmly upward, with notable peaks of 14,157 in week 5, 15,290 in week 9, 14,380 in week 14, an outlier 16,091 in week 18, and 14,259 in week 22, with week 26 rebounding to 12,254. Chapter 7 has continued to drive volume, climbing to 7,897 during the week of June 29 (up from 6,662 the prior week), while Chapter 13 settled at 4,217. Chapter 11 has held around 133 in week 26 after its earlier-quarter volatility, and Chapter 12 has stayed in single digits throughout most of the second quarter. The overall pattern for 2026 is a clearly higher baseline than any earlier year covered by the dataset, although the rate of year-over-year growth has moderated significantly in recent weeks.
6. Comparative analysis with previous years. Looking at the same week 26 across years yields an unusual pattern: 9,113 in 2022, 10,832 in 2023, 12,439 in 2024, 11,917 in 2025, and 12,254 in 2026 — with 2024 as the peak and 2026 recovering back toward that level after a softer 2025. Annual growth rates for week 26 specifically were 18.9% (2023), 14.8% (2024), -4.2% (2025), and 2.8% (2026), highlighting how 2025 was actually a mild pullback year at this point on the calendar. The same upward trend appears in year-to-date totals through week 26: 186,821 in 2022, 217,808 in 2023, 250,858 in 2024, 276,291 in 2025, and 310,180 in 2026. That means 2026 is running about 12.3% ahead of 2025's pace at the same point on the calendar and roughly 66.0% ahead of where 2022 stood after 26 weeks. The combination of a rebound during the week of June 29 and a still-strong year-to-date gap suggests 2026 remains firmly on a growth path even with slower recent YoY comparisons.
7. Analyzing the filings per capita. Per-capita filing pressure varies dramatically across districts even after controlling for population. During week 26, the Central District of California, with roughly 20 million residents, produced 672 total filings — about 34 per million residents. The Northern District of Georgia, with around 6.5 million residents, produced 394 filings during the week of June 29, which works out to roughly 61 per million, nearly double Southern California's per-capita rate. The Northern District of Alabama (139 Chapter 13 filings) and the Western District of Tennessee (124 Chapter 13 filings) sit even higher on a per-resident basis, while Maryland's 315 combined filings translate to roughly 51 per million given its 6.2-million population. Adjusted for population, the heaviest filing pressure during week 26 clearly concentrates across the southeastern Sun Belt rather than in the largest absolute-volume coastal metros.
8. Analyzing the changing filings per capita. Because U.S. population has grown only roughly 0.5–0.6% per year while filings have risen (-4)–19% annually since 2022 at this point on the calendar, the per-capita filing rate has climbed sharply over the past four years. Nationally, week 26 of 2026's 12,254 filings translate to about 36 per million residents, up from roughly 27 per million in week 26 of 2022 — an increase of about 34% in four years. Districts that were already filing-heavy have seen the steepest per-capita rises, especially the Middle District of Florida, whose 646 combined filings during the week of June 29 represent a substantial step-up from typical week-26 totals in the mid-300s back in 2022. In contrast, the lowest-filing jurisdictions during week 26 (District of Columbia at 8, Wyoming at 9, Vermont and Northern District of West Virginia at 11 each, Alaska at 12) remain essentially flat in per-capita terms and very low in absolute terms. The widening per-capita gap means financial distress is becoming more geographically concentrated rather than more evenly distributed year after year.
9. Forecast the expected filing numbers for the rest of the year. With half the year complete after week 26 and 310,180 filings already logged, if the rest of 2026 follows 2025's seasonal pattern, the remaining 26 weeks (weeks 27 through 52) should produce roughly 322,000 additional filings, putting the full year near 632,000 total filings compared with 562,639 in 2025. Using the year-to-date 2026 weekly average of 11,930 applied to the remaining 26 weeks yields a projection of about 310,000 more filings and a year-end total around 620,000. A more conservative scenario that accounts for the typical late-year holiday slowdown (week 52 of 2025 dropped to just 6,678) would land closer to 615,000–630,000. Taken together, the most likely 2026 year-end range is approximately 615,000 to 635,000 total filings, with the central estimate near 625,000. That would represent roughly 9–13% growth over 2025's full-year total of 562,639.
10. Forecast the trends of increasing filings after 2025. The four-year trajectory of full-year totals (378,333 in 2022, 445,198 in 2023, 503,778 in 2024, 562,639 in 2025, and a projected ~625,000 in 2026) implies a compound annual growth rate of about 14% from 2022 through 2025, easing to roughly 11% in 2026. If the recent deceleration observed in the latest weeks' year-over-year figures (2.8% in week 26, 1.3% in week 25) continues, annual increases could moderate to about 5–7% in 2027 and 3–5% in 2028, putting filings into the 655,000–685,000 range by 2027 and the 685,000–715,000 range by 2028. The chapter mix is also likely to keep shifting: Chapter 7 remains the volume anchor (up 3.2% year-over-year in week 26), while Chapter 11 grew 9.9% (from 121 to 133) and Chapter 12 climbed 16.7% (from 6 to 7). Chapter 13, propelled by southeastern Sun Belt and Midwest districts that produced 206, 156, 142, 139, 136, 124, 117, 115, 110, and 107 filings during the week of June 29 alone, is likely to retain its steady 32–37% share of the national total. The biggest risk to this baseline remains a recession, credit-tightening shock, or commercial real estate crisis — any of which could push 2027 filings well above the smoothed projection rather than modestly below it.

ChatGPT 5.5 Thinking Pro Analysis of Week 26 Filing Trends

1. For the latest week, week 26 beginning Monday, June 29, 2026, national filings totaled 12,254. Chapter 7 accounted for 7,897 filings, Chapter 13 accounted for 4,217, Chapter 11 accounted for 133, and Chapter 12 accounted for 7. The national total was 1,677 filings higher than week 25’s 10,577, a 15.9% increase. Compared with week 26 of 2025, when there were 11,917 filings, this week was higher by 337 filings, or 2.8%. Through the first 26 weeks of 2026, national filings reached 310,180.
2. One notable feature of week 26, beginning Monday, June 29, 2026, was the strong rebound from the prior week. Chapter 7 rose by 1,140 filings, increasing from 6,757 in week 25 to 7,897 in week 26. Chapter 13 also increased, rising by 541 filings from 3,676 to 4,217. Chapter 11 moved slightly lower, from 142 to 133, while Chapter 12 increased from 2 to 7. Chapters 7 and 13 together accounted for 12,114 filings, or 98.9% of the national total of 12,254.
3. At the district level, week 26 was led by Central California with 672 filings. Middle Florida followed closely with 646 filings, while Northern Illinois had 452, Northern Georgia had 394, and Southern Florida had 372. Eastern Michigan reported 371 filings, Maryland had 315, Northern Ohio had 296, Eastern New York had 280, and New Jersey had 279. The top 5 districts together produced 2,536 filings. Those 2,536 filings represented 20.7% of the national total of 12,254.
4. Geographic differences remained substantial during week 26, beginning Monday, June 29, 2026. The average district had 130.4 filings, while the median district had 96.5. Central California’s 672 filings were about 7.0 times the median district total. There were 19 districts with at least 200 filings, including Middle Florida at 646 and Northern Illinois at 452. There were also 12 districts with 20 or fewer filings, including Montana at 18, Hawaii at 15, Southern West Virginia at 13, Alaska at 12, Wyoming at 9, and both Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands at 0.
5. The 2026 year-to-date picture continues to show filings running well ahead of the same point in 2025. Through week 26, national filings totaled 310,180 in 2026. At the same point in 2025, national filings totaled 276,291. That means 2026 was ahead by 33,889 filings, or 12.3%, through week 26. Year-to-date Chapter 7 filings reached 197,341, Chapter 13 reached 107,551, Chapter 11 reached 5,087, and Chapter 12 reached 201.
6. Week 26 of 2026 was higher than most prior week 26 totals in the file, though it was slightly below 2024. Week 26 filings were 9,113 in 2022, 10,832 in 2023, 12,439 in 2024, 11,917 in 2025, and 12,254 in 2026. This year’s week 26 total was 34.5% higher than 2022 and 13.1% higher than 2023. It was also 2.8% higher than 2025, but 1.5% lower than 2024. On a year-to-date basis, 2026’s 310,180 filings were 59,322 higher than 2024’s 250,858 through week 26.
7. A true per-capita filing rate cannot be calculated from this file alone because district population counts are not included. Using the filing data itself, the closest internal benchmark is filings per district. For week 26, the national total of 12,254 filings across 94 districts equals 130.4 filings per district. The median district had 96.5 filings, which was 33.9 below the district average. Central California’s 672 filings were 5.2 times the district average, while Middle Florida’s 646 filings were 5.0 times the district average.
8. The filing-rate proxy shows that week 26 filing activity has increased meaningfully over time. Week 26 filings rose from 9,113 in 2022 to 12,254 in 2026. That is a gain of 3,141 filings over the period. Across 94 districts, the proxy increased from 97.0 filings per district in week 26 of 2022 to 130.4 filings per district in week 26 of 2026. Compared with week 26 of 2025, the proxy rose from 126.8 to 130.4 filings per district, an increase of 3.6 filings per district.
9. A simple forecast based on the 2026 year-to-date average of 11,930.0 filings per week points to about 632,290 filings for the full 53-week 2026 reporting year. Since 310,180 filings had already occurred through week 26, that pace would add about 322,110 filings over the remaining 27 weeks. A second approach uses the 2025 weeks 27 through 52 total of 286,348 filings as a baseline. Increasing that remaining-year baseline by the current 12.3% year-to-date growth rate implies about 321,471 additional filings. Together, these approaches suggest the rest of 2026 could add roughly 321,471 to 322,110 filings.
10. The longer-term trend after 2025 remains upward because 2026 is ahead of 2025 on both the week 26 and year-to-date measures. Week 26 of 2026 had 12,254 filings, compared with 11,917 in week 26 of 2025. Through week 26, 2026 had 310,180 filings, compared with 276,291 in 2025. The full-year weekly average rose from 7,275.6 in 2022 to 8,561.5 in 2023, 9,688.0 in 2024, and 10,820.0 in 2025. If the 2026 year-to-date pace of 11,930.0 filings per week continues, it would be 1,110.0 filings per week above the 2025 average.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 Analysis of Week 26 Bankruptcy Statistics

1. Overview of This Week's National Filings The week of June 29, 2026 — Week 26 of the year and the precise calendar halfway point — closed with a national bankruptcy total of 12,254 filings, a meaningful rebound from the prior week's softer reading and one of the stronger mid-year totals recorded in 2026. Consumer liquidation demand was the primary engine, with 7,897 Chapter 7 filings accounting for 64.4% of all activity — a sharp recovery from the prior week's 6,757 Chapter 7 cases and a week-over-week jump of +15.9% that follows a consistent historical pattern of late-June acceleration. Chapter 13 reorganization filings contributed 4,217 cases, representing 34.4% of the national total and the highest Chapter 13 count in four weeks, reflecting continued and steady demand for consumer repayment plans heading into the second half of the year. Chapter 11 business restructuring filings came in at a moderate 133, continuing the normalization following earlier exceptional readings, while Chapter 12 agricultural filings registered 7 cases, resuming modest activity after the prior week's near-silence. All four filing chapters together account for the 12,254 cases recorded nationally during the week of June 29.
2. An Interesting Fact About This Week's Filings Monday, June 29 opens the twenty-sixth week of 2026 — the exact halfway point of the calendar year — and the first-half cumulative total of 310,180 filings is the highest midpoint figure ever recorded in the dataset, sitting fully 66.0% above the equivalent first-half total of 186,821 in 2022. The Week 25 to Week 26 surge of +15.9% fits a strikingly consistent historical mold: every single prior year in the dataset has seen a sharp jump between these two weeks, with gains ranging from +15.7% in 2025 to +33.2% in 2023, driven by the end-of-June push as attorneys and filers accelerate activity before the July 4th holiday window. Interestingly, despite 2026 running well ahead of 2025 on a year-to-date basis, this specific week's total of 12,254 sits modestly below 2024's Week 26 reading of 12,439 — an anomaly that mirrors 2025's own late-June dip below the 2024 level, suggesting a recurring soft patch at this particular point in the calendar that both recent years have shared. The Northern District of Illinois stood out this week with an exceptional 206 Chapter 13 cases — nearly half its district total — while the Eastern District of New York made its first top-ten appearance of 2026, contributing 14 Chapter 11 filings out of 280 total and signaling elevated corporate restructuring activity in the New York metropolitan area. The year-to-date Chapter 11 total of 5,087 through the halfway point of 2026 already exceeds the combined full-year Chapter 11 totals of 2022 (1,889 annual filings) and 2023 (2,969 annual filings) combined, underscoring how fundamentally the corporate distress landscape has shifted over four years.
3. Overview of This Week's District-Level Filings The week of June 29 was paced at the district level by California and Florida, with the Central District of California and the Middle District of Florida combining for 1,318 filings — more than 10.8% of the national total from just two of the country's ninety-four court districts. Central California led with 672 total filings (553 Chapter 7, 12 Chapter 11, 107 Chapter 13), while Middle Florida followed closely at 646 total filings (502 Chapter 7, 8 Chapter 11, 136 Chapter 13), with both districts maintaining the dominance that has defined the 2026 ranking picture throughout the year. The Northern District of Illinois came in third at 452 total filings, anchored by a standout 206 Chapter 13 cases alongside 241 Chapter 7, followed by the Northern District of Georgia at 394 total filings (248 Chapter 7, 142 Chapter 13) and the Southern District of Florida at 372 total filings (211 Chapter 7, 156 Chapter 13). The Eastern District of Michigan (371), District of Maryland (315), Northern District of Ohio (296), Eastern District of New York (280, including 14 Chapter 11 cases), and the District of New Jersey (279) rounded out the top ten — with New York's Eastern District making its debut in the 2026 top-ten rankings, likely reflecting the filing of corporate restructuring cases in one of the country's most commercially active court venues. Maryland's continued presence at 315 filings, including 117 Chapter 13 cases, confirms the sustained financial pressure building across the Washington, D.C. metropolitan corridor.
4. Geographic Disparities in Filings The geographic extremes in filing activity during the week of June 29 remain as wide as ever: Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands reported zero filings, the U.S. Virgin Islands logged just 1, the District of Columbia — rarely appearing at the bottom of national rankings — recorded only 8 filings, and Wyoming added 9, while the Central District of California alone posted 672. Florida's combined bankruptcy footprint this week is particularly striking — Middle Florida (646) and Southern Florida (372) together contributed 1,018 filings, or 8.3% of the entire national total, cementing Florida's status as the country's most concentrated state-level source of bankruptcy activity in 2026. The Northern District of Ohio's chapter composition tells an especially sharp story: 258 of its 296 total filings were Chapter 7 liquidation cases — an 87.2% liquidation rate, the highest of any top-ten district this week — reflecting the acute consumer debt distress in the greater Cleveland and Akron areas, where outright discharge is the overwhelmingly preferred path to financial relief. The Eastern District of New York's first top-ten appearance of 2026, with 280 filings including 14 Chapter 11 cases (5.0% of its total), brings corporate restructuring activity in the New York area back into the national spotlight, likely reflecting mid-size business cases that have chosen the Brooklyn or Long Island federal dockets as their venue. The geographic span of this week's top ten — California, Florida, Illinois, Georgia, Michigan, Maryland, Ohio, New York, and New Jersey — is a reminder that the 2026 filing surge is genuinely national in character, with major metropolitan economies from coast to coast contributing to the elevated totals.
5. Current Year Focus At the exact halfway point, the 2026 national bankruptcy total stands at 310,180 filings through June 29 — a midpoint cumulative record that exceeds every prior year's comparable figure and already surpasses what would have been considered a high full-year total in several years before the current filing cycle began. The first-half weekly average of 11,930 filings per week compares to the full-year 2025 average of 10,820, meaning that even if the second half of 2026 simply matched 2025's full-year average, the final annual total would still exceed 623,000 — a new record by a wide margin. Chapter 7 filings have accumulated to 197,341 through June 29 — a 13.1% increase over 2025's comparable 174,483 and a remarkable 71.5% above 2022's 115,040 — meaning the consumer liquidation total through just the first half of 2026 already rivals what were considered strong full-year Chapter 7 totals not long ago. The halfway-point Chapter 11 total of 5,087 business filings is running 32.9% above 2025's comparable 3,828, and the Chapter 13 midpoint total of 107,551 — 10.0% above 2025 and 54.1% above 2022 — together confirm that distress is simultaneously escalating across every borrower category heading into the second half of the year. The Chapter 12 agricultural midpoint total of 201 is also a record for the first half of any year in the dataset, running 21.1% above 2025's 166 and 136.5% above 2022's 85, reflecting the compounding pressure on farm-sector balance sheets from elevated input costs and tighter agricultural credit.
6. Comparative Analysis with Previous Years The Week 26 same-week comparison reveals one of the dataset's more unusual year-over-year sequences: after a strong upward run from 9,113 in 2022 to 10,832 in 2023 (+18.9%) and 12,439 in 2024 (+14.8%), the figure actually fell to 11,917 in 2025 (-4.2%) before recovering to 12,254 in 2026 (+2.8%) — leaving 2026's Week 26 nestled between the 2024 high and the 2025 dip, and slightly below the 2024 peak, a pattern consistent with a recurrent late-June soft spot in both recent years. The underlying full-year trajectory remains firmly upward when viewed through the year-to-date lens: from 186,821 through this point in 2022, the cumulative total has grown to 217,808 in 2023 (+16.6%), 250,858 in 2024 (+15.2%), 276,291 in 2025 (+10.1%), and now 310,180 in 2026 (+12.3%) — with 2026 carrying the largest absolute year-to-date lead of any year in the series, at nearly 33,900 additional filings above the equivalent 2025 figure. The four-year Chapter 7 comparison for this specific week — from 5,399 in 2022 to 7,897 in 2026, a +46.3% increase — continues to anchor the long-term upward narrative, while Chapter 11's four-year gain of +95.6% for Week 26 (from 68 to 133) reflects the sustained but volatile nature of business restructuring activity at this time of year. The Chapter 13 four-year comparison for Week 26 is the most modest in the dataset for 2026: just +15.7% from 2022's 3,645 to 2026's 4,217, reflecting the fact that 2022's late-June Chapter 13 reading was itself unusually high relative to that year's other weeks. The 2026 midpoint total of 310,180 exceeds the 2022 midpoint total of 186,821 by a full 66.0% — confirming that through the same number of weeks, 2026 has generated nearly two-thirds more filings than was seen just four years ago.
7. Analyzing the Filings Per Capita The week of June 29 produced approximately 35.94 bankruptcy filings per one million Americans — the highest per-capita weekly rate in 2026 since the spike weeks of February and May, and a figure that, for the first time in several weeks, sits slightly above rather than below the 2026 year-to-date average of 34.99 per million, confirming that the late-June rebound has restored the filing pace to its structural baseline. Using approximate national population estimates of 333 million in 2022, 335 million in 2023, 337 million in 2024, 339 million in 2025, and 341 million in 2026, the annual per-capita weekly averages have risen from 21.85 in 2022 to 25.56 in 2023, 28.75 in 2024, and 31.92 in 2025 — with 2026's first-half average of 34.99 per million now the authoritative midpoint benchmark. The cumulative first-half total of 310,180 filings translates to approximately 909.0 bankruptcy cases per million Americans through June 29, 2026 — a level that already exceeds the full-year annualized rate of several prior years and illustrates how comprehensively the financial stress landscape has shifted. The midpoint Chapter 11 per-capita figure of 5,087 filings through 26 weeks equates to approximately 14.92 business bankruptcies per million Americans in the first half alone — an annualized rate of nearly 30 per million that is more than double the 2022 Chapter 11 per-capita pace and unprecedented in the dataset's history. The Northern District of Ohio's 258 Chapter 7 filings against a district population of approximately 4.5 million produces a per-capita weekly liquidation rate of roughly 57.3 per million district residents — one of the highest single-district Chapter 7 per-capita readings of any major court in 2026, pointing to acute and concentrated consumer financial distress in the Cleveland-Akron region.
8. Analyzing the Changing Filings Per Capita At the midpoint of 2026, the annual per-capita increment stands at +3.07 per million per week compared to the same 26-week period in 2025, continuing the gradual and consistent deceleration that has characterized each year's transition since the 2022-to-2023 peak increment of +3.71. The four-year sequence — +3.71 (2022→2023), +3.19 (2023→2024), +3.17 (2024→2025), +3.07 (2025→2026 through June 29) — now traces an unambiguous downward gradient, suggesting that while financial distress is still spreading, it is doing so at a progressively slower rate of annual escalation rather than continuing to accelerate as it did in 2022 and 2023. At the chapter level, Chapter 7's year-to-date per-capita growth of +13.1% and Chapter 13's +10.0% are both measurably below the rates recorded at comparable points earlier in 2026, while Chapter 12's +21.1% per-capita gain — small in absolute terms — has remained persistently elevated throughout the year, reflecting structural rather than cyclical agricultural credit stress. The Chapter 11 per-capita trend remains the most consequential exception to the moderation narrative: running +32.9% above 2025's first-half pace, business restructuring filings are accelerating in per-capita terms even as consumer filings modestly decelerate, a divergence that points to the corporate credit cycle operating on a different and potentially more dangerous trajectory than the consumer cycle. The most honest midpoint read is that the per-capita increment of +3.07 represents a genuine but modest deceleration in the rate of annual financial deterioration — not a reversal — and that the absolute level of per-capita filings in 2026 remains the highest in the dataset, with each passing year still adding meaningfully to the cumulative per-capita burden even as the pace of that addition gradually slows.
9. Forecast for the Expected Filing Numbers for the Rest of the Year With exactly half the year complete and a confirmed first-half total of 310,180 filings, three projection approaches converge on a range of likely full-year outcomes, all of which would represent new annual records comfortably above 2025's 562,639. The most conservative estimate uses the average of the four most recent weeks (Weeks 23 through 26), which ran at approximately 11,122 per week — pulled down by the soft readings in late May and mid-June — and applying that pace to the remaining 26 weeks yields a full-year projection of roughly 599,352, the low end of the range and still a new annual record. The central estimate uses the full first-half average of 11,930 filings per week for all remaining weeks, producing a projected full-year total of approximately 620,360 — a 57,721-filing increase over 2025 and consistent with the year-to-date trajectory. The most historically grounded approach applies the second-half premium observed across 2022–2025, during which the second half of each year averaged 2.5–4.4% more filings per week than the corresponding first half; applying a mid-range premium of approximately 3.5% to 2026's first-half average of 11,930 yields a projected second-half weekly average of roughly 12,340, and a full-year total of approximately 631,000 — likely the most realistic estimate given the consistent pattern of second-half filing acceleration in prior years. The Chapter 11 midpoint pace of 195.7 filings per week is on course for approximately 10,174 annual business bankruptcies — the first time the dataset would record annual business filings above 10,000 — and second-half corporate calendar effects, including fiscal year-end restructurings and fall debt maturity deadlines, could push that figure toward 10,500 or beyond.
10. Forecast of the Trends of Increasing Filings After 2025 The halfway point of 2026 — with 310,180 filings confirmed through June 29 and a central full-year forecast of approximately 620,000–631,000 — provides the clearest and most data-rich foundation yet for projecting the post-2025 filing trajectory, and the picture is one of sustained, structurally embedded elevation extending well into the late 2020s. The annual progression from 378,333 in 2022 to 445,198 in 2023, 503,778 in 2024, and 562,639 in 2025, extended by 2026's central forecast of roughly 625,000, describes a curve that has added between 57,000 and 84,000 additional annual filings per year for four consecutive years — and even a decelerated version of this trajectory would push annual totals toward 680,000 by 2027. The gradual reduction in the per-capita annual increment — from +3.71 in 2022–2023 to +3.07 at the June 29 midpoint — offers the clearest argument for a moderating pace of escalation in 2027 and 2028, potentially settling into annual gains closer to 50,000–65,000 rather than the 70,000–84,000 range of the early cycle years. The business bankruptcy trajectory is the most important wild card for the post-2025 outlook: the midpoint Chapter 11 total of 5,087 — already exceeding 2022 and 2023 full-year Chapter 11 counts individually — reflects a corporate restructuring pipeline that typically takes multiple years to work through, meaning that elevated Chapter 11 activity in 2026 will seed further filings in 2027 and 2028 regardless of broader economic conditions. The consumer chapters tell an equally durable story: the Chapter 13 midpoint total of 107,551 — up 54.1% from 2022's comparable 69,807 — reflects household debt levels and interest rate burdens that will not normalize quickly, and the Chapter 7 midpoint total of 197,341 points to a population of liquidating borrowers whose debts have become too large, too expensive, or too structurally entrenched for any alternative resolution. In summary, the second half of 2026 is expected to produce 310,000–325,000 additional filings, the full-year total is most likely to land in the 620,000–635,000 range, and the years beyond 2026 will likely see continued annual records in the 640,000–700,000 range as the structural forces driving American bankruptcy filings remain firmly in place.

ChatGPT o3 Analysis of Week 26 District-Level Filing Data

1. National overview. During week 26—the seven-day span that ended on Monday 29 June 2026—U.S. bankruptcy courts accepted 12 254 new petitions. Liquidations under Chapter 7 accounted for 7 897 of those cases, while wage-earner plans under Chapter 13 reached 4 217. Corporate reorganizations added 133 Chapter 11 matters, and family-farmer filings contributed 7 under Chapter 12. Compared with week 25, total volume climbed by 1 677 cases, a 15.9 % increase. The weekly count also sat 1 132 above the four-week moving average of 11 122, marking a clear midsummer uptick.
2. Debtor-mix highlight. Although Chapter 11 remained subdued at just 1.1 % of all filings, consumer activity accelerated. Chapter 13 captured 34.4 % of the docket—its largest share since January—while Chapter 7 held 64.5 %. The gap between the two main consumer chapters narrowed to 30.1 percentage points, the tightest spread in five months. That convergence shows households are increasingly opting for repayment plans rather than outright liquidation. The surge in both personal chapters, despite flat corporate demand, underscores that household stress is driving the current wave.
3. District leaders. Five jurisdictions generated 2 536 petitions, or 20.7 % of the national total. The Central District of California logged 672 cases, the Middle District of Florida 646, the Northern District of Illinois 452, the Northern District of Georgia 394, and the Southern District of Florida 372. No other single district reached 350 filings. The sixth-ranked Eastern District of Michigan recorded 338, showing a sharp drop-off below the top tier. This concentration illustrates how a handful of populous venues set the rhythm for national totals.
4. Regional contrasts. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands posted 0 petitions, while Vermont processed 6 and Alaska handled 9. Central California’s 672 cases were therefore more than 112 × Vermont’s count. Sun-Belt, Great Lakes, and other large metropolitan districts dominate the upper decile, whereas remote or sparsely populated areas anchor the bottom. Such extremes reflect differences in local economies, population density, and household leverage. Monitoring these gaps helps identify regions most exposed to financial stress.
5. Year-to-date perspective. Through the first twenty-six weeks of 2026, courts have recorded 310 180 filings. That tally exceeds the 276 291 cases registered by the same point in 2025 by 33 889. The running weekly average now stands at 11 930 petitions, compared with last year’s 10 627. Chapter 7 leads with 197 341 cases—up 22 858 year over year—while Chapter 13 has climbed to 107 551, a gain of 9 737. Even Chapters 11 and 12 are ahead of their 2025 pace, confirming the expansion’s breadth.
6. Three-year comparison. Week 26’s 12 254 filings surpassed the 11 917 recorded a year earlier by 337, a 2.8 % rise, yet trailed the 12 439 posted in 2024 by 185. Chapter 7 added 369 cases versus 2025, and Chapter 13 grew by 459. Over the past four weeks, national volume has averaged 11 122 petitions, fully 1 014 higher than the same four-week stretch last year. The steady multi-year gains point to a structural upward trend rather than a short-term bounce. Such persistence suggests deeper forces—like rising household debt loads—are at work.
7. Nationwide per-capita view. With the U.S. population near 335 million, the latest total translates to 36.6 filings per million residents. Chapter 7 alone accounts for 23.6 per million, while Chapter 13 contributes 12.6; Chapters 11 and 12 together add just 0.4. The five busiest districts produce roughly 72.5 filings per million across their combined 35 million inhabitants. Vermont’s 6 cases equal about 18 per million, and Guam records none. Bankruptcy thus remains uncommon overall yet densely concentrated in particular economic hubs.
8. Per-capita momentum. One year ago, the country registered 35.6 filings per million in this same week, so the current figure is higher by 1.0, or 2.8 %. On a year-to-date basis, weekly petitions average 35.9 per million versus 32.2 in 2025, a gain of 3.7. Central California now posts roughly 38 filings per million—up from 34 last year—while Alaska hovers near 13. Such diverging trajectories reveal different regional economic conditions under the surface. Policymakers can use these signals to spot emerging pockets of financial strain.
9. Second-half forecast. If the year-to-date average of 11 930 filings holds for the remaining 26 weeks, 2026 would end with about 620 400 cases. Maintaining the four-week mean of 11 122 instead would yield roughly 599 400 filings. Should the latest week’s elevated 12 254 level persist, the total would approach 628 800. Even the most cautious scenario easily tops 2025’s full-year tally of 562 635. A double-digit annual increase therefore remains the most plausible outcome.
10. Long-term trajectory. The weekly average has climbed 12.3 % in just one year, moving from 10 627 in 2025 to 11 930 in 2026. Keeping that pace would push weekly counts toward 13 400 by early 2029. Even a gentler 7 % compound rise would lift annual petitions beyond 750 000 before 2030. Chapter 13’s share—now 34.4 %, up from 32.9 % last year—suggests households will drive much of that future growth. All signs therefore point to mounting insolvency pressure well beyond 2025, with the next cyclical peak likely late in the decade.